Health Tip: Does FDA Approval Assure the Safety of Medicines?

Have you ever heard anyone speculate that if aspirin had to undergo FDA scrutiny for approval as a new drug, that it would never pass? Perhaps this is an overstatement, but it does point out that the same medications most of us consider to be perfectly safe can lead to serious side effects in certain situations.

This concern also extends beyond just prescription medication.  Over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies and drugs sold as "nutritional supplements", all have potential risks. To compound this situation, there is also the possibility that two medications that may not cause a problem by themselves can interact and produce an adverse reaction.

Almost every week I hear about a medication that has been taken off the market, found to be linked to previously unknown problems, argued about in court cases or that has received the FDA's "black box" warning, indicating that the drug carries more risks than most other prescription drugs. In recent years, the arthritis medication, Vioxx, the anti-depressant, Serzone and the diabetes medication Rezulin among others, have been taken off the market. This is in spite of... Click here to sign up to eDocAmerica and read more of this article.